Powder Blue with welts

[DonP]

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope everyone is having a great day.

 

Went down to feed the fish this morning and noticed that my new Powder Blue Tang has what looks like welts on its body. I attached a pic below. You can see some of the "welts" well on the lower part of the fish, but the whiter areas across its body are also welts. The fish has been in the tank about a week. It is eating well, algae off of the LR, brine shrimp, some flake food and otherwise appears to be fine. None of my other fish have the same symptom.

 

Anybody have any idea what this might be and how to treat, if necessary?

 

Thanks for your help, Don

 

 

[vaironman]

It's a sign of ich for this fish, very typical. First, tell us your tank setup system.

 

- How big is your tank?

- What fishes/tankmates already occupied this tank before the powder blue was introduced?

 

 

Now, borrow a UV light or purchase one, hook it up by tomorrow and hopefully, it can help control an outbreak of ich on this fish.

 

KLee

[capsfan]

1

[Jon Lazar]

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope everyone is having a great day.

 

Went down to feed the fish this morning and noticed that my new Powder Blue Tang has what looks like welts on its body. I attached a pic below. You can see some of the "welts" well on the lower part of the fish, but the whiter areas across its body are also welts. The fish has been in the tank about a week. It is eating well, algae off of the LR, brine shrimp, some flake food and otherwise appears to be fine. None of my other fish have the same symptom.

 

Anybody have any idea what this might be and how to treat, if necessary?

 

Thanks for your help, Don

 

 

 

Don,

 

It's hard to tell from the picture exactly what is going on. If there were just a couple of lighter areas, I would guess another fish nipped at the PBT, or the PBT brushed up against something as he bolted from another fish. If he was faded overall, I would think general stress from a new tank and new tankmates. With so many "welts", perhaps each spot is an area of irritation from an ich parasite burrowing into the skin. Ich doesn't appear as white dots until they've been feeding for 4-5 days, have grown much larger, and are ready to exit the fish.

 

I would continue to watch the fish closely and see if you notice any other symptoms that would help pin down what is going on. I would also mark the calendar and spend a lot of time looking at the fish in 4-5 days to see if he has the typical white ich dots. You can also heavily feed the fish frozen foods to help make him stronger in case he presents full-blown ich infestation, or if he has some other malady. Some others will recommend soaking the food in garlic extract first.

 

Jon

[Bob]

Agree with what everyone else says...... Several of my tangs do battle/skirmishes with my Hippo tang and frequently show welts/scrapes etc. I find they generally disappear in a day or two.

 

Continue to watch for ICK or other possible causes.

 

Bob

[DonP]

For a little background... This is my first SW tank, have been in fresh water for years. The tank is a standard 180 with a 50 gal sump, in sump EuroReef RS-180 and a Mag 18 feeding the two returns and the UV. I am running a 40 watt Gamma UV that I bought used. It probably has abou 9 months on the bulb now, so will probably replace soon.... will probably order a new one later today. Lighting is 2 daylight PCs and 2 Actinic PCs that came with the tank. I also have 3 MHs, but am not using those yet since I am waiting to start corals for another couple of months to let the tank mature.

 

Tank mates are a couple of gobies, one clown wrasse, one cleaner wrasse and a male Lyre Anthias. There are also the standard assortment of snails, hermit crabs, a brittle star and 3 emerald crabs.

 

I have been using garlic with the flake food knowing the propensity for ick with this fish.

 

Thanks to all for your replies. I have not yet seen any of the Ick "whites spots" yet, but will keep a close lookout for it. Know them well from fresh water.

 

 

 

It's a sign of ich for this fish, very typical. First, tell us your tank setup system.

 

- How big is your tank?

- What fishes/tankmates already occupied this tank before the powder blue was introduced?

 

 

Now, borrow a UV light or purchase one, hook it up by tomorrow and hopefully, it can help control an outbreak of ich on this fish.

 

KLee

[vaironman]

You're doing everything right. The trick of having a powder blue tang is it HAS to be the king of its tank, meaning it is the first one to be introduced to the new environment.

 

The second possible scenario is if one would like to introduce to an already populated tank with a few, not several, tangs, then the tank has to be large, roomy for the new PBT to roam around, not feeling being harrass by the established tankmates/tangs.

 

The sympton probably dues to being introduced to a new environment. Like others said, just continue monitoring and feed it well. Perform routine 10% - 20% weekly water change.

 

Keep us post!

 

IMO, that is the most beautiful tang in all the tangs and it's affordable.

 

Cheers,

 

KLee

[F&Fmgr]

Don,

 

Watch those "welts" and make sure to observe for red streaks in or around the marks. This is hemmoraging and is is probably due to something a lil more serious than ich....like everyone else said just observe and feed. Sick fish, i mean really sick fish don't eat or graze.

 

Sean

[chieuxuan]

well, i got my PBT for eight months now, he is doing the same with that pic. above since i got him in April. one day gone, next day the same, gone and come back.

[DonP]

Same here. The "welts" appear better today, but not completely gone. There has not been any redness around them at all to this point. I guess I will just continue to monitor and see what happens.

 

Thanks all for your posts. I will update if things change or if anyone else has other suggestions